Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC

Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lowered its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 88.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 709 shares during the quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $29,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 82.7% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 151,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,693 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 285.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares in the last quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,167,000. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 38,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Up 0.4 %

Eaton stock opened at $346.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $236.20 and a 12-month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.89.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company’s Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems.